What does the cat teach us?

Do we pay attention to our pets? Cats or dogs , whatever the pet may be! And what are signals emanate from them? Let us imagine any normal day , as we get ready in the morning to go to work and fulfill our responsibility.

After morning ablutions, we either exercise, hit the gym, do some yoga, pranayama or go for a walk. Some of us consume warm lime water with honey to detoxify our systems and the alkaline conditions in our system. All good habits any doctor would recommend.

Then we pour over the newspapers arguing over the state of the economy, politics , sports , health issues and Page 3 with our spouses and bandy solutions to the most complex problems in the universe. It could be Einstein’s theories or Hilary and Trump’s victories in the caucuses and primaries . Oh!we are so knowledgeable and informed.

There is a customary argument between the wife and husband , some exchange of words or with children. Remonstrating children for waking up late in the night and chatting with friends on the latest gizmos. The world is flat and we are wired, yet mentally get unwired.

This is followed by breakfast . Little attention is paid to the food served by the homemaker. The food is gulped down as we snatch a quick byte on the TV, chat on the Facebook or Whats app, dispatch a quick email and attend to endless calls on the cell phone.

The positive affects of the physical exercise undertaken , the yoga and pranayama schedule adopted is all in vain by these unproductive activities.

All along , a cat was neatly snuggled in a blanket oblivious and unmindful to the happenings around it. She was in deep slumber but imparts some time tested homilies to us and our frenetic pace of endless activities. It teaches us – remain calm and focused.

– Choose a daily activity and spend time doing the activity and only that particular activity that day . Heavens will not fall if we do not attend to all the calls on the mobile or we do not answer the mails which are cluttering the laptop. The cat opines much of it in any case is spam and has little sense and longevity.

– Learn to maintain poise. We should not be burdened by all the problems the world is facing. If at all let us spend some meaningful time in learning , acquiring knowledge , meditating, or doing some service.

– Learn to breathe deeply. The cat breathes deeply and is contented. We will be truly centered and entrenched in our self and beings if we really do some deep breathing and slowing down the pace of our lives and activities. One round of pranayama was good , but it should be part of our nature and nature to reap real benefits.

– Enjoy the meal / breakfast . Like the way cat enjoys its bowl of milk.

– Follow your instincts. A cat and other animals believe in their gut feeling. We in our feverishness in order to become achievers have belied all the potential to harness our gut feeling.

The cat is cool , calm and collected and we leave for our offices , not quite centered and focused.

” Enjoy little things , for one day, you may look back and realise they were big things”, writes Robert Brault